Gunstones back to business as normal

Union leaders have confirmed that a settlement has been reached in a pay dispute at Gunstones Bakery in Sheffield.

This follows 48-strikes in June and July which saw bakery workers on the picket line outside the Gunstones site, which supplies Marks & Spencer.

Regional secretary John Higgins from the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union told British Baker that a settlement was reached in the dispute last month. A one-off payment had been made to staff he said, and a 2% payrise awarded.

He commented: “Everything is back to normal now, and it’s all going OK.”

The Union is completing negotiations with Gunstones’ owner 2 Sisters Food Group over its £38m plans to rebuild its Pennine Foods factory in Sheffield, he added.

The BFAWU, which has more than 500 members at the Pennine Foods site, has been negotiating over terms and conditions and shift patterns.

The site, which makes ready meals for M&S, is set to be completely rebuilt quarter by quarter, in a project which is set to start this year and complete in 2017.